Tractor Supply Co. coming to Davison area

DAVISON TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- Another major retailer is coming to the Davison area.

Randall Stewart, Davison Township planning and zoning administrator, said TSC Tractor Supply Company, based in Brentwood, Tenn., plans to occupy a 20,000 square foot building to be constructed on Lapeer Road, just east of Meijer. A development company needs a special use permit for outside sales before starting construction, he said.

Chris Kettler of DMK Development of Muskegon, which will own the building, said construction is scheduled to start in June with the store opening in October or November. Meijer is located at S. Irish and Lapeer Roads.

"Our site plans have been submitted and we are just waiting for approval," said Kettler.

The Township Planning Commission will consider the zoning request at its May 9 meeting.

TSC Tractor will join Meijer, Wojo's and Menards as major retailers that are in the I-69 corridor in Davison Township. Menards was the latest major company to open in the township with a grand opening in May 2011.

TSC Tractor has more than 1,100 stores in 44 states, said Rob Hoskins, company spokesman of the business founded as a mail order tractor parts operation in 1938. There are 66 stores in Michigan. The Davison Towship store will join outlets in Clio and Fenton in Genesee County although stores also are located in nearby counties.

The company calls itself the largest retail farm and ranch store chain in the United States. Located primarily in rural areas and outlying suburbs of major cities, TSC Tractor Supply says it supports its customers' rural lifestyles from welders and generators to animal care products and men and women's workwear. It also sells pet supplies, animal feed, power tools, riding moweers, lawn and garden products and related products.

Hoskins said most stores employ between 12 and 17 full-time and part-time employees who are among the more than 15,000 it has in the system. It sets its revenues at about $4 billion.

Davison Township Supervisor Kuirt Soper said a Texas firm the township employed last year helped identify the need for a retailer similar to TSC Tractor for the area.

"It's beginning to pay off," Soper said of a study by Buxton. "As the economy improves, it will continue to pay off."